plumbing • heating • cooling

The Green Side of Charlotte Pipe

Product Focus: Green Products

December 2009www.SouthernPHC.com

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PHCCover Story

Green is catching on and it haseveryone looking for ways toreduce, reuse and recycle. And

while this concept may be new to some, Charlotte Pipe and Foundry hasbeen doing this for decades. Just take themanufacturing of their cast iron pipe and fittings. They are made from 100percent recycled content, which has resulted in the recycling of millions oftons of scrap iron over the last several decades. Everything from refrig-erators to car engines are melted in theircupola and made into cast iron soil pipeand fittings.

Of course recycling that much scrapiron is good, but cast iron pipe and fittings also offer many benefits ininstallation and everyday living.During installation no cleaning fluids orsolvent cements are needed, eliminatingexposure to volatile organic compounds(VOCs) during the installation processand from the air we breathe. For under-ground installation, cast iron piping canhandle earth load with no deflection.This means there is less digging on thefront end and a trench can be as narrowas an installer decides. Also, it does notneed the compaction of the sidefill tosupport the wall or special bedding.

For above ground installations, fewerhangers are needed (plastic must besupported by metal hangers every fourfeet in horizontal installations whilecast iron needs support within 18 inch-es of each joint and every 10 feet).

Since cast iron is noncombustible, itremoves the need for the more exten-sive firestopping required with plastics.Plus, it has a long life, being used in

some cases for over 100years. At the end of thelife of a building the castiron piping can be recov-ered and recycled againto make new cast ironpipe and fittings. Also,many engineers chooseto reuse the systems inrenovation projects,reducing the amount ofproject waste and con-struction costs.

Cast iron piping canimprove the quality ofindoor living, too. Sincecast iron is twice as quietas an all-plastic system iteliminates the sound ofwater from fixtures onfloors above flowingdown behind the walls.This unique acoustic feature is the basisof Quiet House®, a Charlotte Pipe sys-tem that incorporates cast iron and plas-tic pipe and fittings.

Typically, the noise in plumbing sys-tems results from a combination of thevibration of the system and of airbornenoise passing through the pipe wall. Astudy by MJM Acoustical Consultants,Inc. of Canada has shown that cast ironsoil pipe and fittings, because of theirdense molecular structure and rubbergasket joints, are 750 percent more effective in reducing plumbing noiseover other plumbing materials.

Charlotte Pipe is also embracing theuse of non-potable water indoors withits newest product offering, ReUze®.Non-potable water sources include

rainwater, reclaimed/recycled waterand gray water. While non-potablewater is not appropriate for human consumption, it can be used in myriadother applications, such as doing laun-dry, toilet and urinal flushing, and cooling tower make-up water. In fact,cooling tower make-up water in somecases represents the majority of waterconsumed in a building.

Launched in August, ReUze was created as an answer to engineers andcontractors looking for a better way todistribute non-potable water inside of a structure.

Until now, some engineers that havespecified systems for non-potable wateruse inside of a building have had thecontractor paint copper pipe purple and

The Green Side of Charlotte Pipe

Cast iron pipe and fittings from Charlotte Pipe are made from100% recycled scrap iron.

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PHCCover Story

then do some sort of field marking.ReUze answers this dilemma and it ismore cost-effective than copper.

ReUze is manufactured using a newpurple CPVC compound because inareas where non-potable water systemshave been in use for a substantial peri-od of time (Europe, Australia, Canada),the universal color code for “do notdrink” is purple. In the US this colorscheme has been adopted for PVC pipeused for the distribution of non-potablewater outside of a building, for irriga-tion and for municipal reclaimed distri-bution systems.

Charlotte’s ReUze pipe is markedwith two lines of type clearly identify-ing the contents as “WARNING: NON-POTABLE WATER DO NOT DRINK”.The type is 180° apart so that no matterwhat angle you view the piping systemthere can be no mistake that the pipe iscarrying non-potable water. This isextremely important in ensuring thatwater lines fit for human consumptionare not crossed with non-potable water lines.

ReUze is listed with NSFInternational and bears the mark “NSF-rw”. It meets all of the same require-

ments as our FlowGuardGold CTS CPVC domesticwater piping systems (NSF14 listing, pres-sure/temperature han-dling capability and supe-rior flame and smoke char-acteristics).

ReUze is available in various CTS sizes and can be installed using currently available lowVOC FlowGuard Gold®

single step solvent cementsand existing CTS fittings,including the well-respect-ed Charlotte Pipe transitionfittings featuring integralbrass threads. It carries thesame 400 psi @ 73°F pres-sure rating as our domesticwater piping system.

While there are no direct points for pipe andfitting products, both theircast iron and ReUze systems may contribute toLEED points.

Cast iron may contributeto the following credits:• Sustainable sites (SS) Credit 5.1 Since cast iron requires narrowertrenching, it protects the native environ-ment from disturbance around the construction site. • Materials and Resources (MR) Credit2.1 & 2.2 Any unused pipe and/or fittings can be sold, diverting it from landfills. • Indoor Environmental Quality (EQ)Credit 4.1 No adhesives or sealants arerequired for installation.

Cast iron and its noise abatementquality is also an asset to indoor environmental quality, or IEQ. IEQ isone of the criteria of the USGBC’s

LEED-H rating system that addressesthe subtle issues that influence howoccupants feel in a space.

IEQ is addressed by the Environmentsfor Living Certified Green program inan optional acoustical package. Builderschoosing this option can elect to installan acoustical package that is intendedto result in a sound transmission coeffi-cient performance of 37 to 39. Somecounties have also included a section inthe healthy indoor environments sec-tion of their Green Building Guidelinesregarding noise pollution.

The importance of noise abatementhas also been recognized by the Green

Charlotte Pipe’s cast iron pipe and fittings aretwice as quiet as an all-plastic system and canimprove the indoor environmental quality ofbuildings and homes by reducing water noise.

ReUze pipe helps utilize non-potable, reclaimed water for applica-tions such as toilet and urinal flushing.

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Building Industry. One example is the U.S. Green Building Council’s(USGBC) LEED for Schools rating system announced in December 2007,which references to ANSI S12.60-2002and offers as many as two points fornoise control in K-12 school buildings.In addition, some counties have included a section in the healthy indoor environments section of theirGreen Building Guidelines regardingnoise pollution.

As for ReUze, the use of non-potablewater can contribute up to 10 LEEDpoints on a project, an astounding 25percent of the points needed to achievea LEED certified building. And available points are even higher if any ofthese credits are deemed a regional priority by the USGBC regional councilor chapter.

Credits include:• Water Efficiency (WE) Credit 1 Non-potable water systems may limit oreliminate the use of potable water orother natural surface or subsurfacewater resources available on or near theproject site for landscape irrigation.• Water Efficiency (WE) Credit 2 Non-potable water systems may reducewastewater generation and potablewater demand while increasing thelocal aquifer recharge.• Water Efficiency (WE) Credit 3 Non-potable water systems may furtherincrease water efficiency within buildings to reduce the burden onmunicipal water supply and waste-water systems.• Water Efficiency (WE) Credit 4 Non-potable water systems may maximizewater efficiency within buildings to

reduce the burden on municipal watersupply and wastewater systems.

LEED points are awarded not only forthe reduction in potable water use butalso for diversion and reuse of stormand waste water that in conventionalconstruction would leave the site.

Charlotte Pipe has LEED AP certifiedassociates that are available to assistwith green building projects.

In addition to their product offerings,Charlotte Pipe has also adapted green-friendly practices into its manufactur-ing. Charlotte Pipe is a major recycler inthe state of North Carolina, preventingmore than 350 million pounds of scrapiron and steel from entering overcrowd-ed landfills annually. Cast iron scrapmaterials are recycled internally, result-ing in little to no waste from the manu-facturing process.

Also, 100 percent of inert slag, a manufacturing byproduct, is recycledinto cinder blocks and road materials.This is material that used to be sent to landfills. And the sand used in the foundry process is recycled numer-ous times.

In addition, the company has a wastewater treatment system that pre-treats all wastewater used in thefoundry process. The system has helpeddecrease the Foundry’s consumption ofcity water from 100 million gallons ayear to 33 million gallons, dischargingless than 9 million gallons into the city sewer.

Charlotte Pipe has received aCharlotte-Mecklenburg Blue ThumbAward and a Charlotte-MecklenburgEnvironmental Excellence in IndustryAward for its continued efforts at reducing city water demand and recycling 100 percent of its treatedprocess water.

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ReUze® from Charlotte Pipe is a complete CPVC CTS piping system for the distribution of reclaimedwater, rainwater and gray water.